A PUBLIC meeting will be held tomorrow over plans to build a gravel pit in Spencers Wood.
RAGE – Residents Against Gravel Extraction – is hoping that villagers flock to the meeting the same way that Shinfield residents did last year when they were fighting plans to build a similar scheme.
Wokingham Borough Council is currently holding a consultation into the proposal to build a sand and gravel quarry between Spencers Wood and Swallowfield. RAGE says that it would damage the local environment, pollute the air and the River Loddon, and put more traffic and HGVs onto the Basingstoke Road.
It wants the community to come together to fight the proposal and the public meeting on Wednesday, February 19, will be the first step to making this happen. It will be attended by local councillors and an invite has been made to local MP Sir John Redwood.
One of the event’s organisers, Corina Bull, said: “We’ve delivered 1,200 leaflets to households, and given out 100 posters to local businesses.
“We’ve spoken to the council leader, Cllr John Halsall about it. The council was not in favour of the Shinfield quarry plans and they also rejected a previous application on this site.”
Mrs Bull said that both Shinfield Parish Council and Swallowfield Parish Council were against the plans and hoped that residents would be too.
“The meeting will take residents through the subject, educating everyone so they can fill in responses to the consultation – we need to get people to respond to it, so that local councillors hear the strength of feeling,
“Shinfield had 1,400 responses [to its consultation], that’s the kind of numbers we are aiming for.”
And residents attending will be given a poster to display, to show their strength of feeling over the plans.
“This will be purely a public meeting running from 7.30pm to 8.30pm,” Mrs Bull said. “There will be lots of time for questions. “We suspect questions about Grazeley will come up, the two issues are linked.”
The RAGE meeting takes place from 7.30pm on Wednesday, February 19, at The Mill House, Basingstoke Road. Entry is free.
